Northcote stalwart Merricote is better than ever five years on

IT’s the small, successful places that truly make up the fabric of Melbourne, and Merricote’s clever cooking and exceptional hospitality make it a favourite.

Dan Stock

News Corp Australia NetworkMarch 8, 20169:32am

On the shelf, a menagerie at Merricote on High St, Northcote.Source:News Limited

FIVE years is a long time in restaurants. In our voracious and evermore rapacious need to devour the new, it’s easy to overlook those that quietly get on with the business of hospitality.

While the disrupters are integral for the evolution of the industry, it’s the small, successful places that truly make up the fabric of Melbourne, and it’s these operators that create such a food-literate city.

After all, you don’t last five years in this game without having a keen sense of, and love for, wining and dining strangers.

Last week, Merricote, Rob and Bronwyn Kabboord’s little restaurant that arrived with its Dutch-accented, nose-to-tail love of pork in 2011 celebrated five years of calling Westgarth home. Over that time it’s been lauded for clever cooking and exceptional hospitality, finding a firm local following.

A generous plate of pork, Merricote style.Source:News Limited

Not that all things have remained the same. Rob is no longer in the kitchen here, having his old boss, Peter Gilmore of Sydney’s Quay, call on him to return last June and head up the brigade of 30-odd chefs plying their trade in one of Australia’s best restaurants.

That Rob had done serious time at Quay always underpinned the Merricote offering from its two-person kitchen; technically impressive cooking but served in low-key surrounds with not a tweezer in sight.

Stuart Munroe (ex Cumulus) has stepped into Rob’s big shoes. The two have a long history; Stuart apprenticed under Rob at Quay a decade ago and continues his legacy here of clever but approachable cooking that comes with a dedication to celebrating produce.

Local favourite Merricote in High St, Northcote.Source:News Limited

One thing that remains the same is Bronwyn’s presence on the floor.

She is the perfect host, warmly welcoming, palpably enthusiastic about the outright deliciousness of Australia’s bounty, whether food or wine. It’s a joy to be looked after here, in what is, effectively, her lounge room. It’s had a minor makeover, a lick of paint adding a slate-chic darkness to complement the black pressed-metal panels that now run the length of the room.

And like a lounge room, it’s grown into itself; the rug that softens the concrete floor now imbued with the laughter of a thousand celebrations, absorbing the contented sighs of countless happy diners.

While a subtle nod to Rob’s heritage remains through Stuart’s menu, that Dutch wash has been translated into more broadly western European bistro, with modern tweaks that elevate, whether the kombu-flecks in the salt crystals on the table, or the flavour-packed bacon and thyme bread to begin, or the pink liver parfait that’s rolled in hazelnuts and drizzled with honey that’s one of four choices of charcuterie.

A must from Merricote, the glazed eggplant.Source:News Limited

Another snack, named after the Dutch children’s game we know as tic tac toe (our tall Teutonically cheekboned and authentically accented waiter translated for us) is equally dramatic. And “boter, kaas, eieren” translates as bowl of crunchy, creamy, cheesy comfort. Tiny balls of buttery potato cheese with puffed rice for crunch hide a gooey-rich yolk, with little flecks of pickled mushroom. It’s an explosion of good things to eat with a spoon.

A simple plate of smoked eel shows less-is-more restraint, the slightly warm eel pieces surround a scoop of French crème fraîche hidden under a cover of thinly sliced radish and nectarine.

But it’s the dashi gel made from the eel bones, and daubs of sweet nectarine puree, along with more puffed rice, that elevates simple into sublime.

Flinders Island wallaby used as the base for an exceptional tartare shows similar technical skills learnt at the non-shouty school of cooking.